The choosing of a wedding planner in “Father of the Bride”

 

Let’s have some FUN! I’m ready to laugh a little. Plus, if I keep my eyes directed at the screen, I can pretend the mess behind me doesn’t exist. I’ve seen hoarders will cleaner office spaces. So let’s walk away from the boxes and enjoy ourselves!

The other day, I started thinking about my top favorite performances in film (great way to pass they time while hanging up every piece of clothing we own). I could change my list every time I reconsider it, but nonetheless, I love thinking about actors in movies. I brought this topic up with the girls over a long lunch at Steak n’ Shake, and after scribbling our thoughts on a paper place mat, I decided a giveaway would be a GREAT way to kick off the first week in the new house. The girls have a couple days off of school soon, and I’m going to introduce them to “Father of the Bride” (clip above). Martin Short’s performance as Franck Eggelhoffer is on my Top 10 List for Favorite Performances.

I want to hear about your “favorite performances”, not necessarily your “favorite movies”. They often go hand-in-hand, but not always. Ensemble performances don’t count; it has to be a singular, stand-out performance, in which the actor really stretched his/her talents. It would be easy to make up a list of amazing performances (i.e. Humphrey Bogart in “Casablanca”), but I made a list of performances I could watch OVER and OVER and OVER again. Performances that spoke to me (all art is in the eye of the beholder…no judgements!), so while you CAN love Citizen Kane and be my friend, it is not REQUIRED. There are no lines in the sands of coolness on this blog (to quote Ben Stiller from “Reality Bites”).

John Cusack discovering his childhood home has turned into a convenience store.

My List Is As Follows (and changes every time I think about it):

(1) Jared Leto as Rayon in “Dallas Buyers Club” (Dark movie, unbelievably nuanced performance.)

(2) George Clooney as Matt King in “The Descendants” (If you would have told me 3 years ago I would like George Clooney in anything outside of “Ocean’s Eleven”, I would have laughed all over your morning coffee.)

(3) Jon Cryer as Ducky Dale in “Pretty in Pink”. (Because the 80’s matter deeply to me…along with Ducky.)

(4) John Goodman as Walter Sobchak in “The Big Lebowski”

(5) Martin Short as Franck Eggelhoffer in “Father of the Bride”

(6) John Cusack as Martin Blank in “Grosse Pointe Blank” (Also quite possibly my all-time favorite movie, and most certainly, my favorite soundtrack.)

(7) Eddie Murphy as Donkey in “Shrek”

(8) Olympia Dukakis in both “Steel Magnolias” and “Moonstruck”

(9) Rosie O’Donnell as Gina Barrisano in “Beautiful Girls”

(10) Octavia Spencer as Minny Jackson in “The Help”

One of my favorite movie monologues: Rosie O’Donnell in “Beautiful Girls”

 

 The Girls List:

(1) Eddie Murphy as Mushu in “Mulan”

(2) Jerry Seinfeld as Barry B. Benson in “The Bee Movie”

(3) Joshua Gad as Olaf in “Frozen” (Kelly knew his real name, which I found interesting.)

(4) Lindsey Lohan as both Hallie Parker and Annie James in “The Parent Trap” (So sad…she had such promise.)

(5) Mara Wilson as Matilda in “Matilda”

(6) Jennifer Lopez as Mary Fiore in “The Wedding Planner”

(7) Robin Williams as The Genie in “Aladdin”

(8) Kristen Wiig as Lucy in “Despicable Me 2” (They were blown away when I told them she also voiced Miss Hattie in Part I.)

(9) Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook in “Hook”

(10) Tom McGrath as Skipper in the “Madagascar” series (the head penguin)

Eddie Murphy as Mushu, the world’s funniest dragon.

 Greg’s List (very boy indeed):

(1) Patrick Swayze as Dalton in “Road House”

(2) Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp in “Tombstone” (One of the best scripts ever written…I agree with Greg on this one.)

(3) Raul Julia as Gomez Addams in ‘The Addams Family”

(4) Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills in “Taken” (Fairly certain your testicles are “taken” if you’re a dude and don’t love this movie.)

(5) Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd in “The American President”

(6) Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln in “Lincoln”

(7) Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in “Fight Club” (Again, manhood can be removed for guys not worshiping this film.)

(8) Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski in “Gran Turino”

(9) Bill Murray as Steve Zissou in Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”

(10) Ben Stiller as Derek Zoolander in “Zoolander”

Oh Ben Stiller…we just love you.

So here are the oh-so-complicated rules: leave a comment ON THE BLOG (FB comments are fun, but won’t enter you into the contest) and tell me your favorite performances in film. Every comment is an entry, so leave as many as you like (if you want to make a list, enter them as separate comments and increase your chance of winning). It’s still an entry if your list of faves match any of ours printed above. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator at 8 pm on Sunday, November 2nd, EST. The winner will be able to choose between a gift card to their favorite theater, a fandango gift card, or an Amazon Gift Card to buy a movie online, value $20.

I can’t wait to see your lists!! I just love movies. Way more than boxes. Way, way, WAY more than boxes….